Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco
On this page:
- What Are Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
- Are You Looking for General Health and Safety Information Related to Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
- Are You a Manufacturer of Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
- Are You a Retailer of Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
What Are Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
There are two main types of smokeless tobacco that have been traditionally marketed in the United States: chewing tobacco and snuff, including snus.*
- Chewing tobacco is cured tobacco in the form of loose leaf, plug, or twist.
- Dry snuff is loose finely cut or powdered dry tobacco that is typically sniffed through the nostrils.
- Moist snuff and snus are cut tobacco that can be loose or pouched and placed in the mouth. Dip is a common form of moist snuff.
- Some dissolvable tobacco products can be classified as smokeless tobacco products when they are made with cut, ground, powdered or leaf tobacco itself.
* If a snus or other smokeless tobacco product claims to be made with synthetic nicotine, it is subject to requirements for non-tobacco-nicotine (NTN) products.
Are You Looking for General Health and Safety Information Related to Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
Smokeless tobacco is addictive and contains chemicals that make it more dangerous than you may think. “Smokeless” in “smokeless tobacco” does not mean this type of tobacco product is harmless. Although you don’t inhale smokeless tobacco, there are still more than 4,000 chemicals in these products, and as many as 30 of these have been linked to cancer.
There is no safe level of smokeless tobacco use. And people who use smokeless tobacco can experience health consequences at any age, even as teenagers. Despite age restrictions on its use, teens are still at risk for the negative effects of smokeless tobacco use, particularly white, rural, teen boys who often see their male role models using “dip.”
Did You Know?
Although all tobacco products are potentially harmful and people who do not use them should not start, FDA granted modified risk granted orders for some snus smokeless tobacco products. This means these specific products may be advertised with information about their lower risks of certain health effects when compared to smoking cigarettes.
Resources in the FDA Tobacco Education Resource Library
The FDA Tobacco Education Resource Library, from FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, provides tobacco education resources. This site offers digital and print content for state and local health officials, nonprofit organizations, and schools to support public outreach efforts.
See E-Cigarettes and Vaping Resources
Reporting Adverse Experiences and Product Violations
If you have experienced an unexpected health or safety issue with a specific tobacco product, you can report your adverse experience. Knowledge about adverse experiences can help FDA identify health or safety issues beyond those normally associated with product use.
If you believe these products are being sold to people who are underage, or you see another potential violation of the federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) or FDA’s tobacco regulations, report the potential violation.
Are You a Manufacturer of Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
FDA regulates the manufacture, import, packaging, labeling, advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution of smokeless tobacco products, which includes products for use in the oral and nasal cavity, under the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act); and the FD&C Act’s implementing regulations.
If you make, modify, mix, manufacture, fabricate, assemble, process, label, repack, relabel, or import smokeless tobacco, you must comply with these requirements for manufacturers.
CTP’s Office of Small Business Assistance can answer specific questions about requirements of small businesses and how to comply with the law. This office also provides online educational resources to help regulated industry understand FDA regulations and policies.
Are You a Retailer of Smokeless Tobacco Products, Including Dip, Snuff, Snus, and Chewing Tobacco?
Tools for Retailers
“This is Our Watch” is a voluntary education program with resources to help tobacco retailers better understand and comply with FDA tobacco regulations. Tobacco retailers play a direct role in protecting kids from nicotine addiction and the deadly effects of tobacco use.
Learn what tobacco retailers need to do to comply with the rules designed to prevent our nation's youth from becoming the next generation of Americans to die prematurely from tobacco-related disease.
Did You Know?
It is illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product – including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarettes – to anyone under 21.
Retail Sales of Tobacco Products offers information about federal rules that retailers must follow as well as information on regulations, guidance, and webinars for retailers.